Hermione was reading a book, and Ron was attempting to move chess pieces with his mind.
Ares moved a pawn forward using a little wandless magic.
Ron looked incredibly confused before he turned to Hermione and said,
"Oi! Hermione, did you see that pawn move?"
Hermione looked up from her book and shook her head before going back to reading about magical creatures and their oppression.
Ron shrugged and moved the pawn back, at which point a knight moved forward.
Ron picked up the piece and was inspecting it when it began to talk,
"Have at you cur! Who dares to lay a hand on me?"
Ron dropped the piece in shock,
"Hermione, there is something dodgy going on." He concluded.
"Really, Ron? that's nice." Hermione ignored him.
Picking the piece of the floor, he waited for a second before placing it back on the board.
"Forward, men, forward! On towards victory and fame! Let no peasant or village fool stop you!" Both kings cried suddenly, brandishing rather real-looking small swords.
A small battle proceeded to occur on Ron's chess board, and all he could do was watch in fascination as chess pieces hacked each other to pieces.
It was finally over when only the White king was left standing, who declared softly,
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." before he fell on his own sword,
Ron, now somewhat concerned, turned to Hermione again,
"Hermione, I think someone has cursed my chessboard."
Hermione looked up at Ron before replying,
"Why ever do you think that?"
Ron turned back to his chessboard, which was back to normal now,
"No reason, Hermione, no reason."
Professor Lupin had stayed asleep for the entire journey and did not seem inclined to wake up anytime soon, so Ares turned his attention from Ron to Hermione.
Casting a copying charm, he held an exact copy of the book she was reading in his hand.
Next, he cast a protean charm connecting the two.
Now withdrawing a quill from his robes, he began to write, and the writing also appeared in Hermione's book.
'The house elves were once wizards referred to as muggleborns or mudbloods. However, dark wizards looking for free labour were unhappy with the blood purity of certain witches, and wizards created rituals that turned witches and wizards into house elves. A vital creator of this ritual was Abraxas Malfoy, a prominent member of the wizarding world at the time.
The ritual has been banned except for special use by the ministry. However, it is believed that the Malfoy family has access to the ceremony and uses it on unsuspecting muggleborns who they especially don't like.'
Hermione could feel horror growing in her chest as she read this.
Was Draco Malfoy going to turn her into a house elf? How was she going to stop him? she needed to do research immediately.
"We need to get to Hogwarts immediately! Malfoy is going to turn me into a house elf!" She shouted.
Harry walked in at that moment.
There was silence for a few moments before Ron started laughing,
"Oh, Hermione! Hear that, mate? Malfoy can turn people into house elves now!"
Hermione glowered at the laughing ginger,
"This is serious, Ron! My life is in danger! Nobody is going to let a house elf be a minister!"
Harry set down the sweets he had bought on the chair next to Ron and sighed.
"What makes you think that, Hermione?" Harry asked.
Hermione quickly grabbed her book and shoved it in his face,
"Look, it says it here! The Malfoys made house elves using muggleborns!"
Harry looked over the incredibly dull text, which only mentioned house elf slavery and laws,
"No, it doesn't."
Hermione looked at him with an [of course it does] look before rereading the page,
Her eyebrows started rising higher and higher as she read before she began to argue,
"It did, I swear! It's probably cursed by purebloods to only show muggleborns! Yes, that has to be it!"
Harry nodded with a sigh before sitting back and relaxing.
Ares decided now was a good time to leave and exited quietly as
Hermione started arguing with Ron.
He made his way back to Daphne and the others and chatted with them.
------------------------------------
A few hours later...
Ares was enjoying a nap when it occurred; the train started getting darker and colder, and he couldn't help but feel a little depressed.
Draco looked scared, and everyone else was a little concerned.
"Don't worry, it's only dementors."
Ares explained.
All four of the Slytherins turned to look at him with incredulity.
"Just Dementors, you say; I guess you're right; they'll only suck out our
SOULS!" Pansy said, shouting at him.
Ares rolled his eyes, casting at the same time,
'Expecto Patronum'
Prongs appeared, Ares had never been able to lose his love for the beast, and it remained his Patronus.
The girls gasped at its silvery ethereal beauty.
Draco looked a lot happier now, feeling safe.
Ares set out with his Patronus directing it against any dementors he saw.
He had deliberately made his way to where the first years were keeping the dementors away. Then, looking around, he asked if everyone was alright and offered them each some of the chocolate he had bought from the trolley lady, making sure each of them got a good look at him.
He told them it would make them feel better and encouraged them to eat some as soon as possible.
Then, he made his way through the train handing out chocolate to anyone who looked shaken up and anyone in their first year.
The dementors appeared to be retreating to the front of the train back, where he had initially scared them away; turning around, he made his way back to the front, casting cheering charms on everyone he passed.
He had a passing fancy to cast one on a dementor and see what happened.
Ares arrived at the compartment with Daphne and the others and was incredibly amused, a dementor was looking in, and Draco was telling it off.
"When my father hears about this, you won't be allowed to eat again!"
Prongs came charging down the hallway, headbutting the creature of darkness in the gut.
It went flying out a window, breaking it, but it was nothing a repairing spell couldn't fix.
Daphne was looking at Draco with a critical eye,
"Are you SURE you shouldn't be in Gryffindor?" Tracey blurted.
Draco turned a dark shade of red in embarrassment.
Not long after, Professor Lupin came along and asked if they were all doing fine,
"Who was he?" Pansy asked.
Draco explained to her that he was the new professor for DADA.
She nodded in acceptance before noting something,
"He was wearing rags!"
Draco looked at her for a second before nodding slowly,
"He was!"
The rest of the train journey was spent discussing theories about
Hogwarts newest teacher and his fashion sense.
---------------------
Hogsmeade, Hogsmeade Station
The Hogwarts Express pulled into Hogsmeade station considerably less cheerful than when it set off.
The first years gathered around Hagrid quickly and got into boats, not even bothering to question how big the man was.
Ares knew he was probably meant to get in the boats as well, but he honestly couldn't be bothered as they were incredibly uncomfortable, and he had seen Hogwarts hundreds, if not thousands, of times.
They arrived relatively quickly, and Ares spent the journey contemplating the futility of life as a wizard.
There were more things to do in the muggle world than the wizarding world could fathom.
Getting out, he patted the thestrals and made his way into the chamber where all the first years were; Minerva McGonagall was explaining the basics of their schedule,
"You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your dormitory, and spend free time in your common room."
Looking up, she noticed Ares walk in,
"Mr Peverell, I assume?"
"Yes, ma'am, I am indeed he!" he replied with a flourish and bow.
He flashed her a smile and was pleasantly surprised to see the recognition in her eyes.
Minerva could have sworn she was staring at Sirius Black; his grin was almost identical, and it scared her.
This boy was the son of a pureblood lord who looked like Sirius Black; what was happening.
She gathered her thoughts and led the entrants into the hall for sorting.
Ares ignored the names as they were read out, more concerned with looking at the Headmaster, who was staring at him intently as if trying to read his mind.
Just in case Ares looked away, not wanting the man to look at his thoughts.
He just studied the room while he waited until his name was called.
"Peverell!"
Ares strode forward, making his way quickly towards the hat and stool.
"Who is he?"
"A transfer student."
"Oh, cool!"
"He isn't bad looking."
Ares couldn't help but roll his eyes at the last comment.
He sat down, and the hat invaded his mind.
"Hey! Invaded is a rather aggressive term! That isn't very nice, Mr Peverell or rather Mr Potter? Back so soon! And what house do you want to be in this time?"
Ares found the hat annoying, it could read your mind, yet it had picked the worst-sounding voice on the planet to do it with.
"Offensive."
"Shut up and pick."
"Sheesh, angsty, you'll fit right in with all these teenagers."
"Screw you."
"Very well, the house you will do the best in is..."